Table of Contents

List of Illustrations... i Commendatory Preface... iv Acknowledgments... vii Introduction... 1 I. Historical and Religious Background of the Adina Mosque... 11 Nature and Scope of Study... 11 Geography of Bengal... 17 Sources of Information... 19 Information about Bengal from Foreign Sources... 21 Political History... 26 Events Leading to Sultan Sikandar Shah's Death... 35 The Introduction of Islam in Bengal... 41 Sufis and the Ilyas Shahi Rulers... 48 The Adina Mosque and Pandua's Sufi Khanaqahs... 51 II. The Architecture of the Adina Mosque... 61 Literature on the Mosque... 61 Earlier Mosques in Bengal... 68 General Description of the Adina Mosque... 69 The Exterior of the Adina Mosque... 70 The Interior of the Adina Mosque... 77 Courtyard... 97 Domes... 98 Materials and Execution... 99 III. The Decoration of the Mihrabs and Tympanums of the Adina... 105 The Conjoined Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic Motifs of the Mihrab Surrounds. 105 Mihrab Typology in the Adina Mosque... 112 Terracotta Designs on Mihrab Tympanums and Stone Carving... 122 IV. The Adina's Inscriptional Program, and the Symbolism of the 'Lamp Within a Niche'... 131 The Adina's Inscriptional Program... 131 Symbolic Meaning of the 'Lamp within a Niche'... 139 The Koranic Surat al-Nur/Chapter of Light... 139 The Surat al-Nur and Shi'ites Light Metaphysics... 139 The Surat al-Nur and Sufi Light Metaphysics... 141 Inscriptions of the Surat al-Nur... 143 Conclusion... 155 Bibliography... 159 Index... 173